While analysing correlation between public spending and food security, the report, interestingly found that the more governments spend on agriculture, the more countries exhibit a high percentage of children under five years of age who are overweight.

It gave explanations and hypothesis for this correlation:

one could be that a higher prevalence of overweight among children may prompt governments to spend more on some nutrition-related programmes.
public spending on agriculture does not support enough nutrition-sensitive actions, nor does it enable healthy food environments. The world is also not producing sufficient fruits and vegetables and other nutritious foods for a growing population demanding them more, including in rural areas.
Public support to the food and agriculture sector, including fiscal subsidies, has also created incentives to increase the availability and reduce the price of staple foods and their derivatives – including highly processed foods high in unhealthy fats, sugars and/or salt and of minimal nutritional value – while at the same time discouraging and making relatively more expensive the consumption of unsubsidised or less subsidised commodities such as fruits, vegetables and pulses.

New definition of financing for food security and nutrition

The report urgently called for a universal adoption of a new definition and a standardised approach to mapping financing flows for food security and nutrition, as current efforts lacked adequate attention and clarity.

Currently, there is no agreed upon definition of financing for food security and nutrition. There is also no unity regarding how to measure the financing flows to food security and nutrition in any of the existing financial data sources. A clear understanding and knowledge of the level of financing for food security and nutrition is therefore absent. This absence undermines efforts to achieve food security and end all forms of malnutrition

“Multiple definitions of financing for food security and nutrition are applied, leading to stark differences in estimates of such financing. This predicament poses a multitude of problems, including identifying underfinanced areas, ensuring accountability of institutions, and tracking the effectiveness and impact of interventions financed,” it stated.

In view of this, the report, in a first proposed a new definition:

Financing for food security and nutrition refers to the public and private financial resources, both domestic and foreign, that are directed towards eradicating hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition.

“The fastest route out of hunger and poverty is proven to be through investments in agriculture in rural areas. But the global and financial landscape has become far more complex since the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015. Ending hunger and malnutrition demands that we invest more - and more smartly,” said Alvaro Lario, president, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Simply Put: Eliminating hunger